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Lighting accounts for 7 per cent of a typical household’s energy bill.

Cutting your lighting bill is one of the easiest ways to save energy and money. Houses typically use a mixture of standard light fittings and downlighters or spotlight fittings. Energy efficient bulbs are available for both types of fittings.

Changing which bulbs you use and how you use them will instantly save your home energy and money.

Not sure if I should replace those lights? Can Smappee help?

First identify the Appliance, the lights (see other articles to find your appliance). Once the appliance is identified and you allowed Smappee to collect some usage data for a few weeks, you’ll have reliable data and statistics on that lights energy consumption.

In my case, I looked at TL lights in our dressing room.

The DNA of this Light appliance shows me this:

This light is ON for a total of 10 days per year (2,7% of the time). Turns on with a timer when presence is detected in the dressing room! On average 6 minutes 46 seconds.

That’s good, we don’t let the lights ON when no one is present. The power is 101W and is correct ( 2 fluorescent tubes of 51W each). This light will consume 24 kWh per year at a cost of 6,10 EUR per year.

Can I replace the light with more efficient lights with this budget of 6,10 EUR?!

No, and I should not as the light is only used 2,7% of the time, thanks to the presence sensor and the timer. This light is also very efficient and I found out the TL tubes have an A label according to EEL (European Efficiency Label) standard.

Changing how we use our lights by implementing control mechanisms and being conscious of our behavioural habits can save money and energy.

Here are a few easy things to help you start saving:

Always turn lights out when leaving a room regardless of how short a period it is for

Be conscious of how many lights you have on and whether they all need to be in use

Arrange light switches so that its convenient to turn them off i.e. place switches at top and bottom of stairs, each end of a hallway and each door to a room

Use a sensor and timer on external lights so they are only in use when they need to be

Use appropriate lightings i.e. a low back ground light while watching television and a right, concentrated light for reading. By having a range of lights in a room with separate switches will make this easier.